Let's Do It Already!
The shoujo romcom with the strictest set of codes that forbid any type of physical contact until the age of 18.
On paper Let’s Do It Already! by Aki Kusaka has everything that I love in high school shoujos series. It has comedy, a stoic male lead, and a sunshine girl who loves her boyfriend so much. It’s also a series that toys a lot with the sexual tension between two teenagers, but despite that I felt like this series falls flat for me. If you’re a fan of shounen romcom’s like Kaguya-Sama : Love Is War then you might like Let’s Do It Already! but for people like myself that dislike the constant gags, then wrapping them up with a shoujo presentation won’t make them any better.
Genre: Romantic comedy, slice of life
Age Rating: Older teens
Publisher: Viz Media Shojo Beat
Status: Ongoing, four volumes out in English
Synopsis:
Free-spirited high school student Yuri who lives life without a care in the world meets the complete opposite of her, the stoic and straitlaced Keiichiro who is the son of important politicians. Despite their differences these two high school students agree to be in a relationship, but Yuri is forced to comply with Keiichi’s strict rules which forbid any kind of physical contact until the age of 18. And no, they’re not just forbidding anything that could be interpreted as dirty like sex or kissing. Literally everything from hugging to handholding is forbidden and would be a violation of the Katsuragi family code. Yuri’s patience and hormones get tested whenever she’s around Keiichi because all she wants is to kiss him and be a normal teenage couple.
In the way of their blooming romance lies tradition and bodyguards who report everything to Keiichi’s family. Despite knowing about his family’s tradition and showing lots of restraint, Keiichi actually longs to touch Yuri but is unable to. Will their relationship survive the obstacles and restrictions?
Favorite Things:
Keiichi: I personally really like stoic male leads who are cold on the outside but really love their girlfriend. The moments where he lets his guard down are pretty cute. He also looks a lot like one of my favorite comfort characters, Toya Aoyagi from the mobile rhythm game franchise Project Sekai. And that’s about all I like.
Things I Disliked:
Pacing: I felt like I got whiplash from the pacing in this series especially in volume one where we would go from being in the present, to the past where these two high schoolers meet. There are some cute moments between Yuri and Keiichi that get immediately ruined by a dumb gag that goes on for way longer than the cute moment.
Unrealistic: Let’s be real, I don’t read fiction for the realism but this story is so far fetched that I can’t seem to wrap my head around a family having such strict traditions that they would forbid even innocent hugging or hand holding. The Katsuragi Family Code already seems so incredibly unrealistic, and then you add ridiculous things like Keiichi having to submit an application to persuade his parents to let him get a cellphone because he doesn’t own one at the start of the series just seems so odd. In this day and age I find it so hard to believe that a teenager wouldn’t have a phone to text.
Repetitive Gags: Most of volume 1 and 2 are just Yuri trying to bend the rules to be able to touch Keiichi in any way. She will throw herself so he has no other option but to “save” her, she will whine, she will get angry… rinse and repeat. I was really hoping volume 2 would show us a different side to Yuri but the gags weren’t any better.
Kasuga Shinobu: This 20 year-old spy who works closely guarding Keiichi is given the task to break Keiichi and Yuri up but his methods are sketch to say the least. He forces himself onto Yuri and steals her first kiss which is presented as a funny gag because Yuri later punches him. I don’t know about you but a 20 year-old man kissing a 15 year-old girl doesn’t sit well with me. Then there’s a chapter where he cross dresses in order to get Yuri to confess to a random woman how she feels about her relationship. Everything about this character just gave me the biggest ick.
Rating: ★/ 5
I read volume 1 and 2 in late 2024 and despite now having up to volume 4 in stores, I just haven’t felt the urge to pick it up to see if it gets any better. I might just wait till a sale to pick up volume 3 but if the pacing is still all over the place and I can’t seem to root for this couple, then this series will go in the pile of manga to resell on Mercari. There are so much better shoujo romcom’s, save your money and get Lovesick Ellie or Tamon’s B-Side.
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